Arrangement of pieces of furniture adapted for the organization of commercial and accounting departments



ARRANGEMENT OF PIECES OF FURNITURE ADAPTED FOR THE ORGANIZATION OF COMMERCIAL AND ACCOUNTING DEPARTMENTS Filed March 1928 Oct. 29,1929. G. TRUFFAUQT 1,733702 Patented a. 29, 1929' UNITED STATES GEOBGES TRUFFAUT, 0F VERSAILLES, FRANCE ARRANGEMENT OF PIECES 01 FURNITURE ADAPTED FOR THE ORGANIZATION COMMERCIAL AND ACCOUNTING DEPARTMENTS Application filed March 8, 1928, Serial No. 260,100, and in France March 16, 1927.

My present invention relates to improvements in the arrangement of pieces of furni ture which are adapted for the organization of commercial or accounting departments,- and in this manner a single person can be occupied with the daily records upon the commercial or accounting filing cards as well as with the classification of the files appended to the said filing cards.

According to my invention I provide pieces of furniture consisting of sheet iron or wood which have a determined height and in which the various files are classified. Such pieces of furniture may be closed by metallic curtains or by disappearing doors,

and are disposed in such manner that the side members thereof will provide roller races 7 for suitable rollers which are mounted upon supports holding a table,.with which is combined a seat also secured to the said supports.

Upon the table is mounted a' piece of furniture or filing case which serves to hold the filing cards containing commercial and accounting data, and which may be closed by fastening devices analogous to those employed for the fastening of the aforesaid pieces of furniture. The combined device formed by the said table, seat and filin case 'may be displaced along the pieces of furni- 0, ture through a suitable reciprocative motion exercised by the person occupying the seat. This reciprocative motion may be facilitated by employing ball-bearings in connection with the said rollers.

The movable filing case contains the classified filing sheets or cards or like documents, each of which contains commercial and accounting data or only commercial data, and such sheets or cards may be held together in 40 files adapted to hold loose sheets or cards which are placed in vertical compartments. To these sheets or cards may be added posted sheets in such manner as to keep proper account of the customers from the standpoint of commercial data and accounting data. The. pieces of furniture according to my invention in which are classified the files are disposed horizontally when suflicient room is provided therefor, but when no suflicient room is to be found, the said pieces of furniture may be disposed vertically, and the combined device formed by the table, seat and filing case is then to be moved vertically by suitable means such as ropes and pulleys a ong vertical rails provided on the side members of the pieces of furniture.

The invention is shown in the appended drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a general perspective view showing the arrangement of'an oflice employing horizontal pieces of furniture according to the invention.

Fig. 2 isa sectional view showing the disposition of the movable table upon the horizontal pieces of furniture. 5

As shown in Fig. l, I dispose with. the proper spacing horizontal pieces of furniture 1 consisting of wood or sheet metal, whose number will depend upon the extent of theenterprise. The said furniture is provided with vertical boards 3 which are spaced along the length of the device and serve to divide it into a certain number of compartments 3 which serve to hold the files 4. The said pieces of furniture may be closed by means of a metallic curtain or by disappearing doors provided with a combination lock, if so desired. I

The upper parts of the sides 2 of the devices l serve as rails or roller races for the rollers 5 mounted on the axles 6 secured to the iron fittings 7 which are so constructed as to hold a table'8 and a seat 9. On the front part of the table 8 is mounted a filing case 10 which may consist of wood or sheet 5 metal, and serves to contain the filing cards. The case 10 may be closed or locked by means analogous to those employed with the devices 1 as above stated.

The said arrangement thus comprises a general outfit including the table 8 and the filing case 10 which'can be moved between the devices 1 by displacing their roller moun ted supports 7. The said supports can be readily displaced by the person occupying the seat 9 who pushes on the floor with the feet so as to move the outfit back and forth.

By the use of my saidmethod, I obtain a great improvement as regards a saving of time, since each person seated before his 1 work movable table 8 is not obliged to move from his post in order to perform his daily Work.

All that the employee is required to do is to stretch out the arms in order to take upthe corresponding file which is placed in order in the filing compartments of the horizontal pieces of furnitureo v If it is admitted that the filing case 10 contains the files relating to the customers business and accounts, when such accounts are to be properly arranged, it is simply necessary to displace the said table between the horizontal pieces of furniture 1 in order to place it adjacent thefiling compartment containing the files of a given customer.

Due to th s arrangement, each employee is alone responsible for the following operations:

1.For the daily recording upon the commercial filing record or card of the customer, for instance as concerns the commercial position of the customer, the goods ordered, the frequency of the orders, and the like.

2.For the daily recording of the customers accounts, such as balance between debits and credits, sending of bills, drafts, values in checks or the like received, and similar items. A single filing card is thus employed and it is placed in the filing case 10 which is mounted on the table 8.

3.The arrangement of the files'for each customer, such as letters, bills, railroad documents and the like. Each file is contained in one of the pieces of furniture 1 situated on either side of the movable table.

By the use of such pieces of furniture, I

1 characterized in that the seat is disposed in a position permitting the occupant, by pressure upon the floor, to displace the seat along the stationary device.

3. A piece of furniture as claimed in claim 1 characterized by the provision of rails on the stationary device, and rollers on the movable device supporting the latter for movement along said rails.

4. A piece of furniture asclaimed in claim 1 characterized by the provision of rails on the stationary device, and rollers on the movable device supporting the latter for movement along said rails, said seat being so disposed as to permit theoccupant, by pressure exerted on the floor, to displace the movable device along the-rails.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

GEORGES TRUFFAUT.

am able to effect a considerable saving of time, thus reducing the number of persons employed in the proportion of 3 to 1 for the same performed. Furthermore, due to the centra ization of a given class of work in the hands of a single person, all errors will be eliminated, and there will be no causes of complaintfrom the customers.

Though I have shown rollers for the purpose of allowin the reciprocating motion of the combined d seat and filing case, I may in fact utilize any other suitable means such as ropes, or wheels moving upon the floor allowing of the motion of the said device relatively to the piece of furniture.

Claims:

1. A piece of furniture adapted for the organization of commercial and accounting departments, comprising in combination a stationary device adapted for the classification of various files, a movable device reciprocally 'movable along the said stationary device and consisting of a table, a seat adjacent the said table, and a case mounted upon the said table and adapted to contain the commercial and accounting cards relating to the files of the stationary device,

i 2. A piece of furniture as claimed in claim evice formed by the table, 

